Can You Rely on VPN to Open Blocked Sites in Gulf countries?

The simple answer to this question is “yes.” Nevertheless, it is important that you first understand how countries in the Gulf region control the Internet access. The countries in the Persian Gulf are Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While these countries may have different Internet policies from each other, all of them are very strict. But don’t worry; you can still bypass their Internet filters using a reliable and trusted VPN (Virtual Private Network).

Some experts suggest choosing a VPN according to your geographical location. Ideally, the nearest server offers the fastest Internet connection. However, this is not always the case. Some further VPN servers have better solutions in giving less latency. This is the length of time it takes for a packet of data to travel from one designated point to another. In short, latency is wasted time which can greatly affect your online activity especially if you are watching videos. Make sure you do some speed tests first.

With a VPN, your data transfer is well encrypted. In simple words, encryption is the process of encoding information in a manner that only authorized parties can read it. VPN service providers offer a minimum of 128-bit encryption. While the higher levels of encryption might be better, it doesn’t mean you should always choose them. Note that the US government uses 256-bit encryption in protecting their sensitive information. Therefore, choosing the encryption level mainly depends on how you will use your VPN.

And because security is the greatest factor when choosing a VPN, a reliable VPN service provider is the one that doesn’t keep logs. Otherwise, this might cause a problem once the Internet police from these Gulf countries block you. For the record, VPN is not illegal in this region. There is no official report about anyone in the Middle East who was jailed for using VPN. However, you can be fined or deported if you are using VPN in doing online activities that they considered illegal, such as online fraud and gambling.

There are many types of VPN. If you choose a free VPN, you can still browse the Internet anonymously. Just like any VPN company, a new IP address will be provided to you, to hide your real IP address. But because it is only a free service, it is very likely that you will be blocked anytime soon. Governments of Gulf countries invested millions in their implementation of Internet censorship, so you don’t expect free VPNs to beat them. And of course, you should not also expect good customer services from them.

Another huge factor of choosing a VPN is the bandwidth. It refers to how much data your connection can transfer. Therefore, you will need a higher bandwidth if you will VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) services such as Skype and Viber, simply because they operate on real-time basis. On the other hand, you should not get a VPN offering extra bandwidth that you will not use. Generally speaking, VPN is very much reliable in all the countries in the Persian Gulf, as long you know how to choose the right one.